Yeah I thought it was too good to be true Roger. I'm just to the point where I'd be willing to try anything.
Thanks John I'm sticking to my gout diet my Doc recommended and drinking tons of water and still no relief. I did use Ben Gay last night and it helped a little, until I had to get up and goto work. At least I slept some.
I will say I the holidays were rough on the waste line. I would get on the treadmill but.... I do have to stick better to my diet though.
Ken on week 2 or so of this flare up it was in my ankle and it went into my knee. I never had it in my knee before and it wasn't severe, but man that was a bizarre feeling. It was sore and had a fluid filled feeling for a day or two. Glad it didn't get worse. It just keeps going from inside of my ankle to outside. I usually just get it in the joint of my big toe. Trust me about the alcohol theory. I'm not a drinker, but when I went to camp with some buds I was just in mild flare up in my toe; by mid day and 5 beers and some fireside stories my foot was huge! The guys couldn't believe it. I have to dig up the photo lol. Yes we are easily amused, at my expense. I did not walk anywhere but to recycle my fluid intake and sit back down.
Ken your Mt. Whitney story is one I am terrified of and so is my hiking buddy. We section hike the AT every May. We don't get much spare time due to families and work and it would ruin everything. Talk about paranoid.

Thanks for replies and sympathy, sometimes whining helps :D

Edited by OBOZ on 01/08/2009 19:28:15 MST.

Whine away :-) We will listen! I swear that a good venting session helps a lot with pain in chronic issues :-)

Its somewhat comforting to see others can relate & understand what a flare up is like.

Just came from Doc and I have had gout since Dec 3rd! I now have an ulcer from taking endomethacin so often, she wants to run tests on my kidneys and Lord knows what else. This isn't good. She put me on a steroid pack, tramadol to work with the pain, and then go from there... My buddy and I have some day hikes coming up and I need to heal up quick! I want to play and I'm grounded! :D UGH

just hang in there Brian. Hopefully the right medication and eating and drinking right can stop the PAIN!

FINALLY - Its been a week now and the colchicine helped rid of the flare up. Boy that really tears up the tummy(understatement). Stepped up the my meds and have gout under control. Boy that was the worst I have ever had it. My doc is concerned about my kidneys now and have to get labs soon. I'll do whatever as long as the ol' gout monster stays away..lol.
Thanks Ken and everyone for listening and relating to my pain. There's a bunch of really good people here and it is highly appreciated.
Everyone have a nice remainder of your day. I think I'm gonna go for a little day hike in a bit :)

Good to hear and you're welcome. I had a mild flare up last month and finally this month I have been moving pain free. I actually took my road bicycle out for a spin today. Way to go Brian!

Edit: Brian, I use a combination of colchicine and diclofenac and if I use them for a day or two at the most, then I can usually kill off any symptoms and be back to normal pretty quickly. I just hate using med's though

Edited by kennyhel77 on 02/21/2009 14:53:12 MST.

The last bad flare up I had, the doctor had to drain the knee. Wow did that help! Looked like cloudy pee. Anyway, I have not had a serious attack in maybe a year and a half, and have ceased my medication. Now I just get the odd kidney stone anywhere from "." this size to "O" this.

My worst was the very first. Must have had it for 4 or 5 weeks. Other attacks swelled up my knees causing the joints to separate enough to dislocate them when I walked. I went thru nearly 2 years on and off crutches and canes until I was able to fighuire out my protein intake threshold.

While my uric acid level does spike sometimes (I get a few warning signals) I have been able to keep it in check by changing my diet, limiting my protein intake and increasing my water intake.
It does work for some people, I think I read about 10% or 12% of gout 'victims'. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones it does.
Glad to hear the attacks for Brian and Ken have subsided. The pain is almost undescribable.

Ken, Vicodin, good stuff. Makes me loopy but really takes the pain away - but I use it for the stones not the gout. For gout attack I wind up with a shot in the leg that works about 8 to 12 hours. Then I just grit it out.

Edited by NormanB on 03/30/2009 20:14:05 MDT.